Guide or support for drawers and the like



J. 'BODENSTEIN. GUIDE 0R SUPPORT FOR DRAWERS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- By 1919- 1,385,81 1 Patented July 26, 1921.

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GUIDE OR SUPPORT FOR DRAWERS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-8,1919- Patented July 26, 1921.

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UNITED STATES J'AOOIB BODENS'I'EIN, F HERKIMER, NEW YORK.

GUIDE OR SUPPORT FOR DRAWERS AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 26, 1921.

Application filed March 8, 1919. Serial No. 281,823.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JACOB BoDnNs'rEIN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Herkimer, in the county ofHerkimer and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Guides or Supports for Drawers and the like, of which thefollowin is a specification.

his invention relates to roller supports or guides for drawers andsimilar sliding devices in desks or other articles of furniture.

One object of the invention is to provide drawers or the like withdevices of the sort mentioned which are very smooth runnin and quiet,and are of simple, light an inexpensive construction combined w1thstrength and rigidity and such that they are not liable to et out oforder in use.

'Another ob ect is to provide roller bearings for both the front andback parts of the drawer or slide, which cooperate to keep the drawer inperfect horizontal and vertical alinement at all times and preventsticking or binding of the drawer or slide in use.

Other objects are to arrange the roller supports for the back part ofthe drawer or slide so that they cooperate with stops to prevent theaccidental removal of the drawer or slide from its guides, butnevertheless may be readily shifted to permit the removal of the draweror slide when desired; and also to improve devices of the kind mentionedin the respects hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

To prevent unnecessary repetition, the terms drawer and desk arehereinafter used and should be understood to mean respectively a drawer,slide or the like and a desk or other article of furniture or analogousdevice.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional elevation of a desk havingdrawers provided with roller supporting means and stop devices embodyingthe invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary transverse sectional elevation thereof on line2-2, Fig. 1, showing the back portion of two drawers provided with rearsupports embodying the invention. 1

Fig. 3 is a similar view on line 33, Fig. 1, showing the front supportsfor the drawers.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section, on an enlarged scale,thereof, on line 4.4, Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of one of the drawers online 5-5, Fig. 4.

F1g. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal plan view of one of the front rollersor supports for a drawer.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional elevatlon on an enlargedscale, on line 7-7, Fig. 4.

The deskAshown inthe drawings is provlded with vertical side walls orparts 8, top 9, and back or rear wall 10. The front of the desk isprovided with the usual cross bars or fillers 11 between which thefronts 12 of drawers B are adapted to fit.

The drawers preferably also have the usual sides 13, a rear wall or end14, and bottom 15. The desk and drawers may be of any suitableconstruction and of themselves form no part of this invention.

In the construction shown in the drawings, the fillers 11 are providedon their inper or rear faces with plates or straps 16 adacent to theside walls 8 of the desk, secured in place by screws or the like 17.Each of the plates 16 has an inwardly or rearwardly extending or bentend lug 18 having a hole or bearing for a pin or screw 19, which passesthrough said hole and is screwed or secured in the corner post of theside wall 8. The lugs 18 are spaced from the side walls 8 and journaled'on each pin 19 and located in this space is a roller 20 preferably offiber or analogous material, having a relatively wide cylindricalperiphery which extends slightly above the lane of the top of theadjacent filler 11. These rollers 20 are adapted to contact with theunder edge of the sides 13.0f the drawers and support the front of thedrawers. The location of the periphery of the rollers slightly above theplane of the fillers permits the drawers to slide in and out withoutfriction or contact with the fillers. The rollers mounted as describedare rigidly supported between the sides of the desk and the lugs 18 insuch manner as to prevent them from becoming loose or being forced outof position by the pressure of the drawer thereon, and the are held intrue alinement and contact wit the drawers; at all times,-notwithstanding 1 drawer.

that the plates or straps 16 can be made of comparatively light stockand are exceedingly inexpensive to make and apply.

The means for supporting the rear portions or backs of the drawers arepreferably constructed as follows:

A pair of oppositely disposed guide rails 21 is provided for each drawerB, said rails being stationarily secured in any suitable manner to thesides 8 of the desk, their thickness being preferably such that theyoccupy a.space slightly less than the distance between the sides of thedesk and the. outer sides of the drawers. The guide rails 21 areprovided with inwardly facing horizontal grooves 22 into which extendsupporting rollers 23 which are mounted on the rear end of the drawer,preferably as follows: On the rear face of the back of the drawer andadjacent the sides thereof is secured, by screws or otherwise, a pa r ofbrackets 24. Each bracket has a pair of rearwardl extending, perforatedlugs 24 which slidiibly support a short shaft or axle 25 disposedparallel to the back of the On the outer ends of these shafts are therollers 23 which are preferably simi lar to the front-supporting rollers20, said rollers 23 being adapted to roll in the grooves 22 of the guiderails. The rollers 23 are normally projected outwardly and held in thegrooves by means of coil springs 27 surrounding each shaft 25 betweenone of the lugs 24 and a pin or stop 28 extending through or provided onthe shaft. These stops are adapted to engage the other lugs 24 to limitthe outward movement of the shafts and rollers. This constructionprovides a desirable means for releasably retaining the rollers in thegrooves so that they will not extend in too far and scrape or rubagainst the bottoms of the grooves, and permits the rollers to bewithdrawn from the guide grooves as presently explained.

The grooves 22 are preferably substantially. equal in width and depth tothe diameter and length respectively of the rollers 23, so that thedrawers. B will be held from tilting, and from objectionable lateralmotion or displacement and will at all times slide in and out freely andwith the minimum amount of friction. Each of the grooves 22 is closed atthe front .end by means of a block 29 so arranged as to form a stopagainst which the roller 23 in the groove will strike to limit theoutward movement of the drawer and thus prevent the accidental removalof the drawer from its guides. It is sometimes desirable, however, toremove the drawer from the desk for one or another reason and thefollowing means are provided for this purpose :-On the front face of therear wall 14 of the drawer is slidably mounted a pair of horizontal,oppositely disposed roller-actuating mem bers or bars 30, see Figs. 4and 5. Each actuating bar is slidably retained on the rear wall of thedrawer by a serew 31 extending through an elongated slot 32 in the bar30 and :1- lug or part 33 at the outer end of the bar projects through aslot 34 in the rear wall of the drawer. The rearwardly extending lugs 33are notehed at 35 to engage redueed or shouldered portions 36 on theinner ends of the roller shafts 25. Forwardly projecting lugs 37 at theinner ends of the bars 30 form pinch handles, by means of which the bars30 can be moved toward eueh other to withdraw the rollers 23 from theguide grooves 22. Upon reference to Fig. 4 it will be seen. that if theroller-actuating members 30 are moved inwardly as explained, and heldagainst the action of the springs 27, the rollers 23 will be withdrawnfrom behind the stops 29 in the grooves 22, to a position behind theback of the drawer and inside of the planes of the outer side faces ofthe drawer where they preferably abut against the brackets 24:. In

.this position the drawer may readily be removed from the desk.

The described arrangement and location of these parts is such that thehandles are readily accessible after the drawer has been pulledforwardly with the rollers23 in engagement with the stops 29 and it isonly necessary to hold the roller-actuating members 30 in their inwardposition long enough for the rollers to pass the inner end of the stops29, as they will then remain in this position by the engagement of therollers with the sides of the stop blocks until the drawer has beenremoved from the desk. Obviously, to replace the drawer it is onlynecessary to hold the roller-actuating members 30 in their inwardposition until the back of the drawer has been inserted in its opening,when a rearward movement of the drawer will cause the rollers to enterthe guide grooves 22 when they pass the ends of the stops 29.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an article of furniture, the combination. of a sliding member, aguide therefor, a stop, means for supporting the front portion of saidsliding member, a roller on said sliding member which rolls on saidguide to support the rear portion of said sliding member and whichengages said stop and is adapted to be shifted to a position to passsaid stop and permit the removal of the sliding member from said guide,said roller, when so shifted also permitting the insertion of said slideinto said article of furniture, and means which automatically shift saidroller into said guide when moved inwardly beyond said stop.

2. In an article of furniture, tion of a sliding member, a guidetherefor, a stop, a supporting device releasably held: in

traveling contact with said guide for supporting said sliding member andwh1ch is adapted to engage said stop to limit the outward movement ofsaid sliding member, means for shifting said supporting device to aposition to clear said stop and permit the removal of the sliding memberfrom said guide, said supporting device when so shifted, also permittingthe insertion of sa d sliding member into said article of furniture, andmeans which automatically shift said supporting device into said guidewhen moved inwardly beyond said stop.

3. In an article of furniture, the combination of a casing, guides insaid casing, stops at the front ends of said guides, a drawer having aback, a pair of o enings in the back ofsaid drawer, brackets secured tosaid drawer back at opposite ends thereof, a shaft movable lengthwise ineach of said brackets, a roller on each of said shafts and adapted toengage its respective uide, springs normally pressing said sha s tomaintain said rollers in the guides, releasing bars movably mounted onsaid drawer back, each of said bars having a part extending through oneof said openings in said back and a part engaging one of said shafts anda pinch handle on the inner side of the drawer back, whereby saidreleasing bars may be actuated to shift the shafts to permit saidrollers to pass the stops to remove the drawer from the casing.

4:. ln an article of furniture, the combination of a casing, a slidingdrawer within said casing, guides in said casing providing channels atthe sides of said drawer, rollers atithe front of said casing to supportthe bottom of said drawer, stops closing the front ends of saidchannels, brackets mounted on the back of said drawer, a shaft slidablymounted in each of said brackets and extending transversely of saiddrawer, springs mounted on Send shafts and bearing on said brackets toforce said shafts outwardly from said drawer, a roller 0n the outer endof each shaft, said rollers being resiliently held in said channels bysaid springs, a pair of releasing bars slidably mounted on the back ofsaid drawer and en gaging said shafts, pinch handles on said releasingbars, whereby said bars may be actuated to move the shafts to withdrawsaid rollers from their respective channels, thereby permitting therollers to pass the stops at the channel ends and the drawer to beremoved.

- 5. In an article of furniture, the combination of a pair of relativelyfixed guides, a drawer having a back, a pair of shafts slidably mountedon the rear side of said drawer back to project laterally from oppositesides of said drawer, rollers on the outer ends of said shafts adaptedto engage said guides, resilient means for normally maintaining saidrollers in engagement with said guides, a pair of actuating barsslidably mounted on said drawer back, each of said actuating bars havinga part engaging the ad acent shaft, and forwardly projecting lugsextending into the interior of said drawer whereby said actuating barsmay be manipulated to withdraw said rollers from engagement with saidguides.

6. In an article of furniture, the combination of a pair of relativelyfixed guides, a drawer havin a back, said back having a pair of openingstherethrough, a pair of shafts slidably mounted on the rear side of saiddrawer back to project laterally from opposite sides of said drawer,rollers on the outer ends of said shafts adapted to engage said guides,resilient means for normally maintaining said rollers in engagement withsaid guides, a pair of actuating bars movably mounted on the inner sideof said drawer back, said bars having parts at their outer endsextending through said openings in the drawer back and engaging saidslidable shafts, and forwardly projecting lugs on the inner ends of saidbars providing a pair of pinch handles which may be manipulated to slidesaid bars and withdraw said rollers from engagement with their guides,

in an article of furniture, the combination of a pair of relativelyfixed guideways, a slidable drawer, brackets secured to said draweradjacent opposite sides thereof, a shaft movably mounted in each of saidbrackets, a friction-reducing element on each of said shafts normallyprojecting beyond said drawer to engage its respective guide-way,resilient means normally tendmg to resist movement of saidfriction-reducing elements from said ids-ways, and means engaging saidsha ts and having parts extending inside of said drawer for actuatingsaid shafts topermit intentional removal of said friction-reducingelements from said guide-ways.

8. In an article of furniture, the 'combination of a pair of relativelyfixed guideways, a slidable drawer, brackets secured to saiddraweriadjacent opposite sides thereof, a shaft movably mounted in eachof said brackets, each of said shafts having an outer roller endnormally engaging an adjacent guide-way,resilient means normally tendingto resist movement of said roller ends from their respective guide-ways,and shaft-actuating means having handles projecting into said drawer forpermitting manipulation of said shaft actuating means from the inside ofsaid drawer for withdrawing the roller ends of said shafts from saidguide-way.

9. 11 an article of furniture, the combination of a casing, a slidingdrawer within said casing, guides in said casing at opposite sides ofsaid drawer, means at the front of said casing to support the front 'endof said drawer, stops at the front ends of said guides, supports for therear end of said drawer movably mounted at the back of said drawer formovement to and from guide-engaging position, spring means resilientlymaintaining said rear supports in guide-engaging position, and actuatingmeans inside of said drawer for withdrawing said rear supporting meansfrom engagement with said guides.

10. Inan article of furniture, the combination of a casing, a slidingdrawer within said casing, guides. in said casing at opposite sides ofsaid drawer, means at the front of said casing to support the front endof means for normally maintaining said supports in engagement with saidguides, said support-moving means including actuating handles extendingforwardly into the inside of said drawer. 19\llgitness my hand this 5thday of March,

JACOB BODENSTEIN.

Witnesses:

F. A. TINKER, GEO. W. SEARLES.

